Sincere But Cheap

Where waiters and diners tell tales.

Details: Got a dining horror story? Share it.
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gift certificates to Vo's Restaurant
at 277 Parrott St. in San Leandro.
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story and send it with a phone
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ess.com

Back in the '50s, I had a lunch job in a good restaurant. Most of the noonday customers were businessmen, salesmen, and office staffmembers from factories in the area. I got to know the tippers who were real live (overtippers), good tippers, average tippers, the poor ones and, once in a while, the stiff.

Mr. Sincere (yes, his real name) always ate lunch with the same two gentlemen. After the meal, the two men would put fifty cents near their coffee cups and then leave the table while Mr. Sincere signed the house charge. Then he would pocket the other men's tips and add a dollar in the space for tips. No, he didn't steal their tip money, but he himself never tipped even though his receipt said otherwise. Perhaps he had an expense account, and the dollar a day proved the old saying that every little bit helps.

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